WSAPatch lets you run Windows Subsystem for Android on Windows 10
There are a number of features of Windows 11 that Microsoft has kept exclusive to the latest version of its operating system, perhaps to give some incentive for Windows 10 users to upgrade. One such feature is Windows Subsystem for Android, the architecture that makes it possible to run Android apps and games natively in Windows 11.
If you are sticking with Windows 10, there is no need to feel left out, however. If you don't want to use the likes of Bluestacks or Genymotion, you may want to take a look at WSAPatch which, with a bit of tinkering, makes it possible to enable Windows Subsystem for Android on Windows 10.
Google launches its own AI alternative to ChatGPT called Bard
It has been hard to avoid ChatGPT in recent weeks, with the AI-powered chatbot becoming the fastest growing app of all time. Today, Microsoft is expected to use a last-minute event to announce the integration of ChatGPT into Bing, but Google has already tried to steal the Windows-maker's thunder by announcing its own AI service, Bard.
Sundar Pichai is billing Bard as "an important next step on our AI journey", and it is currently available to a group of "trusted testers". In the coming weeks, however, the ChatGPT rival will be made publicly available, he promises.
Microsoft investigates Outlook.com outage that leaves users unable to send and receive emails
Is Outlook down? For many people this is most definitely the case. Microsoft is currently investigating an outage with its email service which it says primarily affects users in North America, but acknowledges that there will be impact in other parts of the world.
The problems means that many people are not able to send or receive emails using Outlook.com, and even searching messages is not possible. The company is yet to give much in the way of details about the cause of the issues, blaming it on a "recent change".
Dashlane makes its password manager open-source
In something of a surprising move, Dashlane has made the source code for its password manager publicly available on GitHub.
Published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 license, the open-sourcing applies to Dashlane's iOS and Android apps. The company says that is made the decision in the name of transparency and trust, and that the projects will be update four times a year -- although this may increase further down the line.
Elon Musk responds to criticism of shuttering free Twitter API access by offering free, write-only access to 'bots providing good content that is free'
The turbulent seas of Twitter show no signs of calming since the tempestuous Elon Musk took over. Having caused confusion and irritation by blocking third-party clients, Twitter then announced that free access to its API will end this week, with the effect of killing off large numbers of bots, services and tools -- including Mastodon migraters' favorite Movetodon.
Ending free access to the Twitter API has, understandably, not gone down well, with developers being highly and vocally critical of the move. Now, having listened to feedback, Musk says that "Twitter will enable a light, write-only API for bots providing good content that is free".
Twitter has killed Movetodon, the service that simplified moving from Twitter to Mastodon
The exodus from Twitter to Mastodon shows little signs of slowing down, and numerous websites and services have popped up to make it easier to jump to the decentralized social network. One such tool is Movetodon, designed to help anyone moving to Mastodon to find the people they were previously following on Twitter.
Movetodon has proved incredibly popular, but it has just been killed off by Twitter. The Elon Musk-owned site announced this week that it is ending free access to its API on February 9, but ahead of this, Twitter has blocked Movetodon's access to the API, rendering the service non-functionable, alleging violation of unspecified rules and policies.
tiny11 massively shrinks Windows 11, slashes system requirements and eliminates the need for TPM
One of the various things that puts people off upgrading to Windows 11 is that the operating system has very particular system requirements. For someone looking to upgrade from Windows 7, for instance, it is likely that their hardware will not make the grade. There is an answer, however, in the form of tiny11.
Coming from the same team that was behind tiny10 -- NTDEV -- tiny11 is a majorly stripped-back, bare-bones version of Windows 11 Pro that dramatically lowers the system requirements. The operating system needs just 8GB of disk space and 2GB of RAM, and it does not require TPM (Trusted Platform Module) support. This sounds great, but there are a few caveats to keep in mind.
Full-screen Microsoft 365 trial offer is blocking access to the Windows 10 desktop
Apparently not content with irritating Windows 10 users with a rather deceptive invitation to upgrade to Windows 11, Microsoft is also causing annoyance by displaying an unskippable full-screen ad that essentially forces users to install Microsoft 365 Family.
Affected users report that the nag screen is blocking access to the desktop until they agree to start a free trial of Microsoft 365 Family (which most people are still referring to as Office 365). As part of agreeing to the trial, users are asked to provide payment details, and although no charges are made until the end of the trial period, the danger is that some people will forget to cancel and will end up paying.
Microsoft insists that the Office-checking KB5021751 update does not infringe on privacy
In the middle of last month, Microsoft released the KB5021751 update to help the company "identify the number of users running out-of-support (or soon to be out-of-support) versions of Office".
Privacy advocates voiced concern about the update, which Microsoft said "will run one time silently without installing anything on the user's device" because of worries about exactly what the slightly secretive check was doing. Now the company has updated support documentation for the KB5021751 update, insisting that there is nothing nefarious about it.
Microsoft is pestering Windows 10 users with an incredibly deceptive Windows 11 upgrade nag screen
Microsoft is, it seems, at it again. No stranger to irritating ads and nags, the company has been spotted pestering Windows 10 users with a full-screen prompt to upgrade to Windows 11 for free.
If the appearance of an unwanted nag screen was not enough, the upgrade prompt is also rather deceptive, appearing to give users just two choices -- install Windows 11 now, or schedule the installation. It is actually possible to back out of the upgrade, but Microsoft has made it less than obvious.
Twitter is ending free API access next week, killing off swathes of apps in the process
Having already banned all third-party clients, Twitter has now announced that it is completely dropping free access to its APIs. In an announcement made via the Twitter Dev account, the company says: "Starting February 9, we will no longer support free access to the Twitter API, both v2 and v1.1. A paid basic tier will be available instead".
The move will effectively kill off unknown -- but large -- numbers of apps and tools that depend on the Twitter API. While getting rid of free API access is unlikely to impact larger apps such as Hootsuite, those produced by smaller, independent developers are unlikely to be able to shoulder the costs.
Netflix hides information about account sharing crackdown after details were spotted in its Help Center
It has been known for some time that Netflix intends to take steps to prevent subscribers from sharing their account with anyone from outside their household. Since the inception of Netflix, password sharing has been a common practice, so the company's action will impact large numbers of people.
Details about just how it will stop people from sharing their account password with others have not been forthcoming, but in a newly-removed Help Center page the approach that will be taken has been exposed. Although the revealing page has now been taken down, it has been recorded for posterity by the Internet Archive.
Microsoft releases PowerToys v0.67.0 with new quick access system tray launcher utility!
Microsoft has updated the PowerToys utility collection, adding the first new module of 2023. Although there have been various updates for PowerToys over the last few months, and we've heard about upcoming new features such as Mouse Jump, it is a while since we've had new toys to play with.
But this changes with the release of PowerToys v0.67.0 which sees the addition of the quick access system tray launcher which we first heard about late last year. A new taskbar menu provides easy access to your favorite PowerToys tools and settings, without the need to navigate through the main app interface.
Developers are working on an amazing new Mouse Jump utility for Microsoft PowerToys
Anyone with a very large or ultra-wide display, or even a multi-monitor configuration, will be aware of the problem of moving the mouser cursor across what can feel like miles of screen space. For fans of the PowerToys collection of utilities there is a solution on the horizon in the form of Mouse Jump.
Mouse Jump is a tool that's based on an existing (non-PowerToys) utility called FancyMouse, and it speeds up the process of getting your cursor across a large area by "teleporting" it with the help of a keyboard shortcut to quickly move it long distances. Sounds good? Well, work is well underway to integrate the utility into PowerToys, but you can even try out the incredible capabilities right now.
Microsoft is no longer selling Windows 10, directs seekers towards Windows 11
As promised, Microsoft has officially stopped selling Windows 10 licenses, meaning it is no longer possible to buy product keys for the operating system from the company.
We have known about the deadline for buying Windows 10 directly from Microsoft for a little while, and the company has now updated its website so the pages for Window 10 Home and Pro redirect to the page for Windows 11. But if you're dead set on buying Windows 10, you're not completely out of luck.
Sofia Elizabella's Bio
Sofia Wyciślik-Wilson is a queer, transgender journalist based in Poland. She has been writing about technology for more than two decades, and after years working for magazines, her writing moved online. She is fueled by literature, music, nature, and vegetables. You can find her on Bluesky and Mastodon. If you like what you read, you can Buy her a Coffee!
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